


Dahlia

by 6Writers1Trenchcoat



Category: Just Roll With It (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23536009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6Writers1Trenchcoat/pseuds/6Writers1Trenchcoat
Summary: Roses are red,Violets are blue,Br’aad has a meltdown,Now you will too.
Relationships: Br’aad Vengolor/Taxi the Tabaxi
Kudos: 80





	Dahlia

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Shadow here. This is possibly the least crackfic written so far, and it was written by me (Shadow), Cultist, and Wren. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Hanahaki disease
> 
> Roses are red,  
> Dahlias are pretty,  
> During this fic,  
> Br’aad feels kinda shitty.

All he could see was beautiful. The autumn trees: their golden leaves riding the wind. The long grass: tall stalks periodically being interrupted by blossoming flowers with petals covered in icy dew. The rising sun: it's blinding rays dropping peacefully on the nature below, lighting the area just enough to see the fence holding in all this wonder.

It was just a shame that his view was being ruined by Taxi and that  _ mother fucking drow.  _

Br’aad rolled his eyes. Typical Taxi, blind as a bat. Couldn’t even see how badly he had been crushing on the Tabaxi. Mountain who was standing next to Br'aad in the balcony grunted and began walking away, muttering "Fucking cat…" under his breath as he went.

Br’aad moved to follow soon after, but the doors leading onto the balcony slammed shut in his face. The noise of their loud slam seemed to echo around the…  _ mostly  _ silent garden, mimicking the ticking of a clock as Br’aad slammed his fists against the mahogany door in frustration. 

He turned and slammed his back against the door, sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees tightly as he tried to think about something,  _ anything _ other than what was going on in the garden below him.

Br'aad had already been forced to go through this pain before when Taxi was with Oriana, but this time it was a lot worse; at least Taxi had known that Teifling, and she wasn't just a  _ fucking stranger. _ Taxi being drunk might have even given the blonde a chance, but even when he wasn't in his right mindset, the cat had chosen a random drow over him.

Br’aad didn’t consider himself one for overly stupid ideas, but at that moment, he wanted to do nothing more than vault the balcony’s railing and give that stupid cat a piece of his mind. Of course, that would also involve him coming face to face with that (admittedly hot) drow that Taxi had chosen over him. 

But then again, Br’aad reminded himself, the door was locked behind him, and he didn’t especially want to spend the whole night out here on this fucking balcony, even less so if Taxi and his new ‘friend’ were also going to be up all night, and as things stood,  _ it didn’t sound like they were stopping anytime soon. _

After deciding to not continue to mope about something that he knew would inevitably happen, Br'aad attempted to open the door, pushing on it a few too many times before realising he had to pull it. He began down the stairs and towards the bar, where he ordered something noticeably overpriced. Hera grabbed a slim bottle from a dusty shelf, putting it down lightly on the wooden surface, and uncorked it.

"Why'd you look so down Br'aad? Wanna talk 'bout it?" The halfling asked, her goodheartedness shining through.

"Thanks, but it's nothing Hera… I'm just looking to have some fun!" He imitated his cheerful voice from before.

She sighed, some of her red hair coming out from behind her ear as she began to pour a dark liquid into a glass. "Whatever you say."

Br'aad took the glass and chugged it. He was trying to forget about Sylnan's encouraging shouts, and he practically did when his head started to throb with an agonizing pain.

He suddenly felt sick to his stomach, promptly dropped his glass, and rushed toward a bathroom. When he found one he couldn't stop a surge of burning liquid from escaping his mouth. He leaned over the toilet expecting to see something disgusting and green, but was met with an even more disturbing view: the bowl was filled with dark red blood.

He took a sharp breath in, but the sudden intake of air seemed to upset... _ something  _ inside of him, and he began to cough. Hard and violently. When Br’aad’s sudden coughing fit subsided, he saw small specks of blood coating the surfaces in front of him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pulling it away to see a smear of crimson coating his sickly pale skin. 

After flushing the disturbing amounts of blood down the toilet, he attempted to push himself to his feet. It took him several tries -more than he’d like to admit- but he finally managed to stand. His vision swam, and he wasn’t sure whether it was due to the severe amounts of alcohol he had consumed throughout the night, or some...weird kind of food poisoning. He couldn’t find it in himself to be bothered. Br’aad stumbled his way out of the bathroom, keeping one hand on a wall at all times as he tried to manoeuvre himself back to the bar; or at the very least, to somewhere he could sit down. 

Despite nearly falling over more times than he could count, and a few coughs hastily caught in the palm of his hand, he managed to get back to the bar, his seat, and Hera- who had a concerned look on her freckled face. 

“Ya alright there lad? You’re looking a little rough.” She tilted her head slightly, trying to look into Br’aad’s eyes, but he was suddenly having a very hard time getting his vision to stop going in and out of focus. 

He lazily waved a hand at her, and she made a shocked noise when she saw his palm. Hera easily grabbed the drunk half-elf’s wrist and turned his hand over, revealing his blood-smeared hand.

“By the Gods lad, what’s goin’ on with ya? I-I think I should go find one of your friends, maybe they’ll know what’s goin’ on.” The woman released her hold on Br’aad’s wrist, and sped away from the bar, leaving Br’aad there by himself. He groaned, that sick feeling coming back, except he didn’t have the energy to make his way to the bathroom again, so he instead chose to rest his warm forehead against the rough wood of the bar. He just wanted the pain to go away. 

He gave a weak cough and felt bad, knowing that there was likely to be blood on the wooden surface. It was likely to stain, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was suddenly overcome by an overwhelming urge to close his eyes and just sleep.

Sylnan had told him countless times that when you are bleeding, you weren’t meant to close your eyes or whatever, but Br’aad was just  _ so fucking tired.  _ What would be the harm if he just took a small nap? Sure, the bar wasn’t the most comfortable place he’d ever slept, but he had lived in a shitty orphanage for the first 7 years of his life, and then the floor of an abandoned factory for...well...the rest of it, so it was practically luxury. 

He closed his eyes, and felt himself drift off, faintly hearing the sounds of running in the background. Before the darkness fully claimed him, Br'aad felt a surge of more warm liquid, except it seemed to be bypassing his mouth and instead came out of his nose. He felt it coat where his face was touching the bar, and then, he felt  _ nothing. _

Sylnan had been sitting on the balcony, shouting words of encouragement down to Taxi and his new ‘friend’, when the doors slammed open, and a worried looking Hera came running through them.

“Sylnan! Sylnan, ya need to come fast. There’s something wrong with Br’aad.” She paused for a second, glancing off the balcony with an odd look, before turning and running back through the doors. Sylnan was quick to follow, soon forgetting about the Tabaxi and his… nighttime escapades. 

They reached the main room of the Tavern faster than Sylnan had ever gone anywhere in his life, and he saw his brother almost immediately- with that sparkly purple cape, he was hard to miss. Trying to be gentle but finding it hard due to his panic, Sylnan grabbed his brother by the shoulders and pulled him up so that he was no longer face first against the bar.

Br’aad’s head lolled to the side, showing the blood coating his forehead, and that was still running from his nose. The wooden surface was also coated in his brother's red life juice, but he still appeared to be breathing, and that was generally a good sign.

Though, that spluttering cough and the blood that flew from Br’aad’s mouth to speckle his face was definitely  _ not  _ a good sign.

“Br’aad? Hey! Br’aad! What the fuck did I tell you about going the fuck to sleep when you’re bleeding?” Sylnan was trying to keep his composure, but he didn’t know what was wrong with his brother, and he had decided to fucking sleep whilst bleeding from... _ somewhere _ . 

The weak, “Not to.” Br’aad managed to cough out was  _ slightly  _ reassuring, but it was less so when the coughing didn’t stop, but instead worsened. It sounded like he was trying to cough out one of his lungs, and the amount of blood coming from the man was enough to convince him that that may have been the case.

As he continued to cough, he could feel something rising up his throat.  _ Fuck, he really was coughing up a lung. _ With one final hack, he could hear something wet smack against the wood of the counter. He opened his eyes, vision blurred and fading around the edges. Lying there, covered in blood, was a small flower. It would’ve been beautiful, if it hadn’t just come out of his mouth. Both of the brothers were caught off guard by the sudden flora.

“Br’aad, what the fuck is that?” Br’aad’s coughing had mostly subsided by then, leaving just a few weak croaks behind. He gingerly picked up the flower, still soaked in a stark crimson. He didn’t know what it was, but it had lots of petals, all in different levels. It was pink in color under all the blood. It reminded him of Taxi,  _ stupid fucking Taxi. _ He could feel the blood rising in his throat again. Before his next coughing fit could begin, they heard a familiar voice pipe up from the base of the stairs.

“Br’aad? Sylnan? What’s going on?” It was Vel. At least she could figure what was happening. Sylnan beckoned over her urgently. Upon seeing Br’aad’s condition, Vel was taken aback. There was blood everywhere, clinging to his face and clothes, dripping out of his mouth, his nose, and coating the countertop and… a small flower? It was resting in the younger half-elf’s hands, he ran his fingers over the petals, slowly wiping away the blood with a somber expression. 

She rested her hand on his shoulder, trying to identify whatever was wrong with him. There was an energy, similar to Br’aad’s own magic, but more powerful, more chaotic, more everything. It was situated near his lungs, but she couldn’t tell exactly what it was doing to them, except making him bleed like a fountain.

“What happened? Did he drink anything?”

“He came downstairs and asked for something fancy, I just gave him a glass of wine, nothing complicated.” 

“And the flower? Where‘d it come from?”

“It… It came out of his mouth,” Sylnan was tense, still holding onto his brother’s shoulders, “I don’t know how but maybe it was just stuck there? Maybe it’ll stop now that it’s out.”

“No, no there’s something else. Something’s situated itself inside his lungs, something… evil. It’s certainly magic, but I don’t know from where or who.”

As they were speaking, a loud slam came from the back of the bar. There stood Taxi, clothes and fur disheveled from the previous night. He looked frightened, which was only amplified when he looked over and saw Br’aad. He rushed over to the rest of the group and kneeled down next to Br’aad, taking in his current condition.

When Br’aad saw the auburn paw resting on his arm, he wanted to scream. He wanted to scream and cry and punch Taxi right in his stupid, adorable face, but the most he could muster was to jerk his arm away. He opened his mouth to speak, but all he got was more coughing, more blood, and something tickling the back of his throat.  _ Flower petals. _ Another soaked flower fell from his lips, falling into his hands next to the other.  _ Gods, he felt exhausted.  _

  
“Wh... what’s going on? What’s wrong with Br’aad?” Taxi sounded panicked, and he looked it too. Br’aad’s adverse reaction to his touch only added to the concern. Looking at the two stained flowers in his friend’s hands, he recognized them as Dahlias. He’d only seen them once, but they had stuck in his mind. He loved them.

“These… Flowers, where are they coming from? I-I mean, how are they just... coming out of his mouth like this?”

“There’s… There’s  _ something  _ there I just- I just can’t quite explain it.” Was Vel’s only reply. Truth be told, she had no knowledge of what this was. Her best guess was that it was a curse, a very violent curse that would kill Br’aad in no time if they didn’t figure something out.

Once again the back door swung open, and walked in someone who was  _ definitely  _ not helping the current disaster. As he nonchalantly threw his shirt back on, he seemed to take notice of the party (or, more specifically, Taxi) all gathered around the bar. He took a step towards them, but quickly backed off and left the bar upon seeing the mess of crimson. Br’aad scowling at him with a blood covered face probably didn’t help either.

Br’aad could feel both the jealousy and the pain rising in his chest again, letting out a few coughs. This time, only a few petals came with it.

“Why don’t- Why don’t we move him upstairs-” Taxi stood up and gently grabbed Br’aad’s arm, only to be met with Br’aad yanking himself away again, so violently this time he nearly dropped the two dahlias sat in his hands. The way Br’aad glared at him sent a shockwave of emotion through him, too fast to describe.

“Why don’t you just- just run off with your new friend?” Br’aad’s voice was hoarse and raw, each word being paired with rough gasps for air, yet it was filled with nothing but bitter venom.

He attempted to push himself up from the bar, only to be met with another coughing fit. His knees hit the wood floor as he doubled over in pain, his chest and throat  _ ached _ . He dropped the two flowers onto the ground, a third soon joining them. Despite the horrible pain and fatigue he felt, he managed to push himself back onto his feet. Instead of walking to the stairs, Br’aad moved to the door, desperate to be as far from Taxi as possible.

Taxi was taken aback by both the remark and Br’aad’s sudden attempt to get away from him. “Wh-what? What are you talking about? Come on, you- you’re bleeding a lot-”

As Taxi reached out a hand to the other, he smacked it away.

“Oh just leave… Leave m-me-” Another coughing fit- “leave me alone. Just get away from me.” His voice was getting worse and worse the more it was rubbed raw.

“I don’t understand what you’re so upset about, I didn’t do anything! I just want you to be okay”

Br’aad whipped around to face the tabaxi, his eyes watering with tears threatening to spill over at any moment. “You… You dense fuck.” It came out as no more than a frail whisper, but the slamming door that followed it caused the whole party to jump.

Knowing that he couldn’t go into town in his… less than ideal current condition, Br’aad instead opted to walk into the forest. Would he most likely bleed out and die in there? Probably. Was it better than bleeding out having to face your brother and the guy that broke your heart? Also probably. Looking behind him as he stumbled into the treeline, he noticed a path of bloody footprints following him.

_ Great, he’s leading them right to where his corpse will be. Just perfect. _

Of course, it wasn’t all bad. The forest around him was gorgeous. The trees weren’t too tall, which created a sort of canopy as the morning sun shone through the leaves. There were tons of wildflowers, vines, moss, the whole bunch winding their way up the trunks of trees. The deeper in he went, the easier he found it to breathe. In fact, by now he’d basically stopped coughing entirely. Maybe it was a good thing he left the others, maybe he just needed some space. He took a seat under a particularly large tree, ready to take a small rest when…

_ Ticking. _

He almost didn’t notice it, but it was there, back again to meddle with his life. 

“Ugh, what do you want now?”

“Hm. You used to be more fun, Br’aad Vengolor. Where’d all that spirit go?” Standing in front of the half elf was his god, dressed to the nines in a fancy red and gold suit. As he appeared, the world around them froze. Trees caught in the wind and birds preparing to take off, but never moving. 

“Do you like my little gift? I thought you could use the nudge, it’s so irritating to watch you mortals pussyfooting around your emotions.”

Br’aad’s ears perked up slightly at the god’s mention of a “gift”. What gift? He hadn’t gotten anything since the wand, unless you’d count this horrible flower curse as a gift-

  
_ Wait _ . 

“Of  _ course _ the flowers are your fucking fault. Why am I surprised?” As if on cue, another coughing fit emerged. “So, how do I get rid of it?”

“Well, I already told you. The more you dance around your feelings, the worse it’ll get. I’ll be honest, I was getting tired of watching you pine over that cat.”

It clicked in his head then. “So that’s the game this time huh? Either I tell Taxi how I feel or die of flowers?”

The entity just chuckled at the half-elf. 

“Well, let's find out shall we?” And with that, he vanished and time resumed.

Meanwhile, at the forest’s entrance, the party began to follow a trail of blood leading into the trees. Sylnan was probably the most panicked out of all of them, considering that right now his brother could be bleeding out, lost in the middle of this forest.

“I don’t understand why he was so upset with me…” Taxi spoke up from the back of the group. Truth be told, none of them really knew what was up with Br’aad. He had been fine last night (besides being so drunk he could barely see) but what had changed?

Surprisingly, it was Mountain who provided any kind of answer. 

“Well, he was obviously angry because of… whatever the fuck you did last night.”

“But why would he even care about…  _ That?”  _

“I don’t fucking know man, I’m not in his stupid little brain.”

They continued to walk in near silence until the bloody path slowly began to wane, soon stopping with the last tiny drops of blood left behind. With no other options, the party split up in a last-ditch effort to find their friend. Taxi continued forward on the same path, having a sneaking suspicion that Br’aad wouldn’t have strayed too far from the direction he was already heading. His suspicions were confirmed when the stench of blood hit his nose, and he found Br’aad sitting under a tree, curled up and crying.

“Br’aad?” Taxi moved closer cautiously, scared that he might cause Br’aad to run off again.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, the half-elf just turned his head away from the source. 

“Dammit, can’t you just leave me alone?” He could feel the burning start in his chest again, Taxi needed to go away before this got any worse.

“No I’m- I’m not going to leave you out here on your own. You’ve been injured- somehow- and you need to rest. In a bed, not under… Some random tree.” He walked forward again, stopping right in front of Br’aad. He kneeled down to eye level, now noticing the stark tear lines that cut through the dried blood on his face. 

“I… I don’t know what I did wrong, but I don’t want you to be hurt-”

He was cut off by a harsh laugh, a miserable, sorrow-filled laugh. 

“Don’t know what you did? Gods… you’ve got to be the densest man I’ve ever met.” Br’aad took a deep breath- or as deep as he could, considering the state of his lungs- before unloading his frustrations onto Taxi.

“All night. All FUCKING night I tried to grab your attention. I got up on stage, I danced, I performed, and what did I see? You were more preoccupied with your new  _ friend. _ And that stupid little part of my brain told me that maybe, just maybe I had a chance. You were drunk, hell, both of us were absolutely wasted, but you still chose some fucking stranger over me!”

By now, Br’aad had gotten onto his feet and attempted to move away from Taxi. He didn’t want to see him at all right now, and his presence was only making the coughing that interrupted his venting worse. And Taxi just stood there, dumbfounded.

“Br’aad I- I don’t understand- What are you saying-”

“I’M SAYING I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT!”

The scream echoed through the trees, leaving behind a horrible silence. With no strength left to fight, Br’aad collapsed into the grass, coughing and wheezing as more and more flowers and flower petals poured from his mouth. Once he was on the ground, Taxi rushed over, panic once again taking control of his whole body.

“Holy- holy shit I’m- I don’t- I don’t know how to fix this- I-” He stumbled over his words, the body underneath him shaking. The best he could do was pull Br’aad into a tight hug, scared that he might vanish if he let go. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t- I had no idea...This is my fault, I’m sorry.”

Br’aad wasn’t sure what to say- He wasn’t sure he could say anything, actually. He felt so weak, so tired, he just wanted this to be over with. This was definitely the end. He was going to die because his crush was too blind and his patron decided to play a sick game. Somehow, this was worse than dying alone.

He was so focused on trying to stay awake that he almost didn’t hear what Taxi said. Almost.

“I love you.”

At first he thought it couldn’t be real- he’d imagined it, surely- but all at once, the coughing began to slow. The flowers that had been left on the ground began to rapidly wilt, leaving behind nothing but dust. With a final cough the last flower left his mouth, and it too was wilted, crumbling apart in his hands.

And it was over.

They both sat in a stunned silence, unsure of what just happened. After a few seconds, Br’aad began to laugh. It was a soft, exhausted one, but still relieved and happy at the same time. Br’aad held Taxi even closer, crying into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, both thankful that Br’aad was still alive. Eventually, they realized they needed to head back to the group and get Br’aad patched up to the best of their ability. It took awhile for Br’aad to regain his footing, but soon they were on their way back to find the other party members. 

Of course, they walked back hand in hand.


End file.
